


It takes a village

by FreddieFoxBaxter



Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Christmas Decorations, Christmas Fluff, Domestic Boyfriends, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Ficlet, M/M, Not Beta Read, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:27:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25379863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FreddieFoxBaxter/pseuds/FreddieFoxBaxter
Summary: TK comes home to find Carlos relieving some stress in a quite unexpected manner.
Relationships: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand
Comments: 5
Kudos: 122





	It takes a village

**Author's Note:**

> A spur-of-the-moment kind of ficlet, I was tired of the dirty looks people give me when I confess I'm already working on my Christmas decoration, I needed someone to share the pain.
> 
> (Not the fluffy Tarlos I promised, that one still needs a lot of work)

His fingers flicked on the keys as he opened the door. He and Carlos had been living together for weeks now, but he still felt nervous letting himself in.

“I’m home,” he yelled as he stepped inside.

“You’re home early.”

Something in Carlos’ voice rubbed him the wrong way. The nervous undertones, the chocked answer. A sudden noise of crumpled paper and a chair screeching against the floor. Overwhelmed by the memories of red flags he had ignored in the past, it took him a moment to realize Carlos was sitting at the kitchen table, a caught-red-handed look on his face, alone and fully clothed, which brought TK to let out a sigh of relief as he walked closer.

He had covered the table with old newspapers and was surrounded with colorful paints and stacks of clay. TK raised his eyebrows, surprised by the sight, while Carlos shrugged, tones of red tainting his cheeks.

“What is this?” he asked peeking at the tiny figurines on the table

Carlos whispered, “Just something I do to relax,” without lifting his gaze from the table, so TK stepped up to him to put a hand on his shoulder.

“I didn’t know you worked with clay” he smiled, in the hope it would ease his embarrassment.

“Sometimes,” was the only answer he got. Feeling guilty for his suspicions, TK raised his hand to the table, pointing a finger to one of the trees.

“Can I?” he asked, waiting for Carlos to nod before he picked it up to give it a closer look.

“They are beautiful,” he sighed, honestly impressed by the craftsmanship that went into making the pine in his hand. Rich, dark green, fully detailed, looked like it came out of a mold, any yet there weren’t any on the table, Carlos must have handmade them, one by one. TK turned it around, to admire it from every prospective, before putting it down next to the others.

“Really?” Carlos asked, and the softness in his voice had TK feel all warm inside.

“Yeah,” he nodded, “It has a Christmas-y vibe.”

“I hope so, I’m building Santa’s Village –”

TK blinked, “In July?”

“I know, I know,” Carlos shook his head, “I guess I needed some Christmas-y vibes.”

“Did something happen?” TK asked, concerned by the pain in his boyfriend’s voice.

“Not really, same old crap at work, I guess.”

He didn’t like seeing his boyfriend like that. His sweet, cheerful Carlos looked so defeated, TK chose to keep for himself the comments about his hobby. All things considered, he was glad Carlos had found a way to work on his stress, despite the table full of future Christmas decorations when it was 97° outside.

“I’m here if you want to talk about it, ok?” he whispered leaning in to plant a kiss on his temple, holding Carlos into his arms. “You keep working on that, I’ll make something for dinner, deal?”

He didn’t let go until he felt his boyfriend relax. Only then he winked at him and went to open the fridge, looking for the ingredients he needed to make something special for Carlos.


End file.
